How the Villainous Consort Avoids His Death Ending - Chapter 82.1
When Kongtteok kept pestering me, I opened my mouth while recalling the fairy tales from my old world that I used to take out one by one for moments like this.
“Shall I tell you a fairy tale? A very, very long time ago, there was a beautiful young lady named Rapunzel who lived locked away in a tall tower….”
I went on about the tale of Rapunzel, who used to lower her long hair from the tower to let the witch climb up, but before long the story gradually drifted along the flow of my thoughts.
“…But then one day, another person entered the body of that wicked witch. The body was the witch’s, but the soul became someone else’s. And somehow, that new witch ended up falling in love with Rapunzel.”
“Gasp, really? Why?”
Kongtteok widened their eyes and asked urgently. I could only lower my gaze and answer gloomily.
“Because Rapunzel was so beautiful. Especially when she smiled, she looked like an angel….”
“Oh, I see!”
“…So the witch let Rapunzel out of the tower, and together they traveled all over the world, earned a lot of money, and became rich.”
“That sounds nice! I wanna be rich too!”
“…But then, following how the story was originally supposed to go, a prince appeared. The witch fell into deep worry over whether she should send Rapunzel to the prince.”
“What? Why?”
“Because that was how it was meant to happen. Rapunzel would come to love the prince deeply, and the two of them would live happily ever after….”
“No way! Someone else went into the witch’s body. Wouldn’t that person love Rapunzel more than the prince?”
“That, I do not know. In this world, it has not happened yet, so it is hard to compare things one by one.”
“What is that? Why worry about something that has not even happened? Grand Consort, you really worry over everything.”
“…Where did you learn to say things like that?”
“You said that to Uncle last time.”
They say you cannot even drink cold water in front of children. They had already heard it and started copying it.
I was left dumbfounded, my mouth opening and closing soundlessly, when Constantine clicked his tongue and wagged his plump finger in the air.
“Anyway, the prince did not do anything, right? Rapunzel would probably like the witch more, since the witch took care of her and stayed by her side.”
“……”
It was something a child had said, but it was surprisingly convincing. I stayed silent for a moment to preserve my dignity, then could not resist the temptation and asked quietly.
“That is probably true, right?”
“Yeah! I like the witch more than the prince!”
“No, Your Highness. You are supposed to talk about Rapunzel, not yourself.”
“Hmm…. I dunno. Is the witch pretty?”
I glanced down at my reflection in the seawater and nodded.
“I think she is pretty enough. Not as much as Rapunzel, but a person does not need to be that unrealistically perfect.”
“Then it is fine! Rapunzel would like the witch too!”
“But then, would that not mean the witch is stealing the prince’s happiness?”
“What do you mean? The prince can just find another princess and get married! There is Snow White, and there is Cinderella too!”
“Oh….”
That was a good point. It felt like the perfect answer to a foolish question.
I lifted Constantine up high and planted several kisses on his soft, squishy cheek.
“Hey, that tickles.”
“Why are you so smart, Your Highness? Anyone can tell you are the protagonist.”
“What is a protagonist?”
“The wisest person in the world. Someone who beats everyone no matter who appears.”
Constantine kicked his legs in the air and burst into giggles. At that moment, light footsteps sounded behind us. When I turned around, it was Tristan.
He approached silently and took Constantine into his arms. His long arm brushed lightly against my shoulder. Then he stood there for a while without saying anything, gazing out at the distant sea. Constantine seemed perfectly content in his uncle’s embrace. He wrapped his maple leaf like hands tightly around Tristan’s neck and clung to him with a bright smile.
We were simply together in silence. Yet within that brief quiet, for some reason, the anxiety that had been lodged in one corner of my heart slowly began to disperse.
How much time had passed. I had been staring at Tristan without realizing it, and only then did I finally turn my head away and barely manage to pull my gaze from his face. In my chest, the faint, ticklish ache that had begun a month ago showed no sign of stopping.
How on earth had I ended up coming this far?
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